When Patti Blake’s children got ready to leave home for college, the former dental hygienist began looking for ways to fill her time.

The 20-year Garden Grove resident had volunteered for a family-resource center and enjoyed it so much that she decided to go into philanthropy. She liked the idea of working in the retail industry.

That is how Blue Moon Boutique, a West Garden Grove store that opened more two years ago, started. It sells bracelets and handbags to clothing and home goods and selects local nonprofit groups or families in need each month and donates 10 percent of its revenue to them.

So far, 28 organizations have received nearly $50,000 in donations from Blake’s boutique – most recently the Sunburst Youth Academy, sponsored by the National Guard and the Orange County Department of Education for 16 to 18 years olds who have dropped out of school.

“The entire mission of the boutique is to help support those organizations that are trying to do good,” Blake said.

Organizations that Blue Moon Boutique has helped include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove, the Westminster chapter of Relay for Life, and CATPaws.

“Their generosity is so much appreciated in the local community,” said Joel Armstrong, the director of the Sunburst Academy. “(Blake) took the time to come to the academy and tour the facility. I had no idea there was a place that did this.”

Said Blake: “I can go another two years before repeating organizations. And places like Sunburst, which do amazing things, need help. That’s what we’re about.”

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